A dark red sealing array bloomed behind Shura, nine interconnected layers of runes spreading like ripples, each center floating with ancient characters:
"Azure, White, Vermilion, Black, Void, South, North, Three, Jade!"
"Nine Mask Beasts!"
At Shura's low whisper, nine summoning beasts wearing grotesque masks burst from the array.
The first to emerge, the Azure Dragon and White Tiger, lunged directly at the surrounding ANBU. Their massive frames and the Tiger's paws carried a crushing weight; ordinary ninjas didn't dare block them. Even Kakashi, parrying the White Tiger's strike with his tantō, was sent sliding back several meters by the sheer force.
The Black Tortoise, built like a hundred-ton truck, barreled toward Hiruzen Sarutobi and his group.
"Partial Expansion Jutsu!" Choza Akimichi roared, his chakra swelling his body into a small giant. This high-level form of the Akimichi secret technique could even wrestle with Tailed Beasts.
The giant Choza charged the Tortoise, pressing his massive palms against its head to halt its momentum! But the moment he made contact, a gargantuan force surged through him, pushing the giant backward despite his best efforts.
CRASH!
The Black Tortoise plowed Choza straight out of the meeting hall, smashing a jagged hole through the reinforced wall. Shikaku and the others were left staring in shock through the dust and rubble.
"Choza!" Shikaku Nara shouted. Just as he moved to help, a flash of red streaked toward him.
He dove aside just in time. Thwip! The Vermilion Bird's crimson shadow grazed his sleeve. An ANBU behind him wasn't as lucky; talons pierced his shoulder, and he was dragged screaming out through the hole and into the sky.
"Shadow Imitation Jutsu!" Shikaku tried to snare the bird with his shadow, but the black lines only brushed its feathers before it ascended out of reach.
"Dammit!" Hiruzen swung the Enma Staff, meeting a mysterious masked figure floating in the air brandishing a scythe.
As metal clashed against the blade, King Enma's voice rang out from within the staff. "Hiruzen! Something's wrong with this thing! It's draining my chakra!" Enma gasped in alarm, immediately reverting from the staff form to his beast form to break the connection.
"What?" Hiruzen hadn't expected the enemy to possess so many unheard-of, bizarre summons.
Five animal-shaped beasts and four humanoid spirits completely stalled the reinforcements. The battlefield, already choked by the Hidden Mist, descended into absolute chaos. Outside, the giant Choza struggled against the Black Tortoise while dodging diving attacks from the Vermilion Bird. Inside, Hiruzen, Shikaku, Inoichi, and Kakashi were locked in a desperate struggle.
A purple barrier suddenly dropped like a curtain. The techniques of the South Star Priest and North Star Priest bisected the battlefield. The Reaper swung its scythe while the Heavenly Maiden's ribbons danced, seizing air superiority and pinning the Hokage's group to the ground.
"Coward!" Hiashi Hyuga spat, gnashing his teeth as he watched his forces being divided.
Hiruzen's face was etched with deep lines of worry, sweat beading on his brow as he and Enma traded blows with the Reaper. The hall was filled with Hyuga clan members, including the elderly and children. If they unleashed large-scale ninjutsu, the collateral damage would be catastrophic. This forced the Konoha elites to stick to taijutsu and precise secret techniques, putting them at a severe disadvantage.
Menma glanced past the purple barrier of the Star Priests at the struggling Konoha forces. He gave a cold snort and turned his attention to the Main House Elders trapped inside the barrier with him.
Hizashi Hyuga stepped forward, dropping into a Gentle Fist stance, his expression one of suicidal resolve to protect the clan leaders.
Menma stomped his right foot, launching himself like a cannonball toward Hizashi.
They exchanged a blur of strikes. Hizashi managed to parry a punch with a palm strike, but Shura grabbed both of his wrists mid-air, twisted his body, and delivered a brutal roundhouse kick to Hizashi's kidney.
BOOM!
Hizashi was sent flying, smashing into the far wall and sliding down, unconscious.
"Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm!" The four Elders attacked in unison, chakra concentrated in their palms.
Shura tilted his head. Beneath the white fox mask, a dark red chakra swirled in his left eye—the Red Eye.
Instantly, the four Elders lost Shura's trail. Their Byakugan showed them only void. Their prepared strikes faltered in confusion.
THUD!
Shura reappeared beside one Elder, slamming his palm into the old man's face and driving his head into the floorboards. The sickening crunch of bone against wood echoed through the hall. Before the others could react, Shura grabbed two more Elders by their robes and smashed them together. Broken teeth and bloody foam sprayed the air.
The final Elder closed his eyes, attempting to sense Shura's position through pure chakra detection. Menma simply leaped, landing his full weight on the Elder's head, pinning him to the floor with a bone-jarring impact.
The entire engagement lasted less than thirty seconds. Hizashi was out, and the four Elders were incapacitated. No one was left to oppose him within the barrier.
Outside, Hiashi Hyuga watched in a frenzied panic. "SHURA!" He hurled a kunai, but it merely clattered harmlessly against the purple barrier maintained by the two fox-masked priests.
"Hamura's gift... I'll be taking it now." Menma stepped off the Elder's back and produced a glass vial. He reached down and, with clinical ruthlessness, gouged out the Elder's Byakugan.
"AAAAAAAHHHH!"
The Elder's shrill, agonizing scream filled the room. Where the pure white eyes had been, only empty, bleeding sockets remained. Shura placed the eyes into the vial, where they floated in pale green cultivation fluid. He reached for the next vial and moved to the next Elder.
"STOP! SHURA!!!" Hiashi screamed, his voice breaking.
But there was no stopping it. One by one, the screams of the Elders echoed, their blood staining the tatami mats.
Hiruzen Sarutobi realized that the situation had moved beyond caution. Shura had effortlessly dismantled the Hyuga leadership.
"I have no choice! Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Hiruzen formed the seals. Four clones appeared. Together with the original, they rapidly cycled through signs.
"Lightning Style: Thunder Bolt!"
"Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet!"
"Earth Style: Earth Dragon Bullet!"
"Fire Style: Fire Dragon Bullet!"
"Wind Style: Rising Cyclone!"
Five different elemental attacks roared from five directions toward the Reaper and Heavenly Maiden, desperate to shatter the deadlock and break the barrier!